Type-4Ta Sōkōkage
The Type-4Ta Sōkōkage, officially known as the Type-4Ta anti-armour medium combat walker, is a Yamataian combat mech. It is the anti-armour variant of the Type-4 Tokage combat mech. It is equally armoured to the base model but is equipped with twin 88mm cannons instead of the 37mm cannon and manipulator claw of the base model. Design The Sōkōkage is not improved greatly from the base Tokage beyond armament. Due to the increased weight, however, the Sōkōkage travels at almost 10 km/h slower than the Tokage, moving at a top speed of 38 km/h over level ground. The Sōkōkage is also equipped with inertial compensators to cope with the recoil of the 88mm guns, as well as noise dampening padding on the interior of the fighting compartment. As on the Tokage, the Sōkōkage is equipped with up to 80mm of armour on the front and 30mm of armour on the sides and rear, consisting of plate titanium reinforced with carbon nanotubes. As with all Tokage models, the entire assembly above the waist can rotate 360 degrees. Armament The Sōkōkage is armed with two 88mm cannons capable of firing a variety of ammunition, often armour-piercing sabot rounds or anti-vehicle plasma shells, though high-explosive rounds and anti-infantry canister shots are also available to increase the vehicle's flexibility. Shells are loaded into the cannons via cyclical drum magazines which can hold up to 43 shells each. This manner of loading means that the vehicle cannot change ammunition type on-the-fly, and heavy equipment such as forklifts are needed to load the magazines. Typically, each cannon is loaded with a different type of ammunition for maximum fulfilment of the mission's needs. Sighting of the main guns is done through external optics and is aided by computers. The gunner is able to fire one or both of the cannons simultaneously. Reports of Sōkōkage units falling over with the firing of both cannons due to a failure of the inertial compensators have been reported, though this design flaw was rectified in the Kai model. Both models of the Sōkōkage can fire while on the move. As with all Tokage variants, the Sōkōkage is equipped with a 7.62mm general purpose machine gun on the commander's cupola for anti-personnel use. Crew The crew of the Sōkōkage consists of a commander, driver and gunner. The Sōkōkage may carry provisions for three days of combat, as well as emergency provisions for one week. History Experience in the field involving the Type-4 Tokage within urban environments exposed its weakness to enemy armoured vehicles such as conventional tanks and other armoured vehicles, which while more vulnerable within the urban setting were unharmed by the the 37mm cannon and were able to destroy Tokage units with impunity. An Imperial Army study concluded that the best course of action, without moving conventional tanks into the urban environment where they would be most vulnerable, would be to create a variant of the Tokage that mounted anti-armour weapons. Initially, the 88mm cannon was mounted on the right of the walker to allow it to retain the 37mm cannon for greater flexibility. However, this unbalanced the test walkers and it was decided to instead create a dedicated anti-armour vehicle by mounting two 88mm cannons onto both sides of the walker. The creation of the Sōkōkage paved the way for other specialised variants of the Tokage to be created to further move tracked vehicles like tanks and APCs out of the urban environment, as well as to give walker squadrons greater independence in the field. Type-4Ta Kai Sōkōkage Kai With its main purpose being to combat dedicated armoured vehicles as well as other mechs, the Sōkōkage was eventually outclassed by newer developments in dedicated anti-armour weaponry. This led to the first major upgrade program in almost a hundred years, with the creation of the Type-4Ta Kai Sōkōkage Kai. The Sōkōkage Kai is equipped with a pair of 120mm cannons identical to those on main battle tanks, bolstered by more modern inertial dampeners that are less prone to failure. Electronics systems and targeting systems have also been upgraded. It is also equipped with stronger armour capable of withstanding modern anti-tank and anti-mech weaponry, including nano-crystal-reinforced super-carbon into the frame. See also *Type-4 Tokage *Type-4Ka *Type-4Shi Category:Yamatai Category:Mechs